The Political Spectrum of Asian Political Parties 

  Asia is the world’s most populous continent. It is also a region with a profusion of ethnic groups, religions and cultures and great disparities in development models and levels of development. Therefore, the political spectrum of Asian political parties is much more complex and variable than that of any other region.

  1. The political development of political parties is uneven, and the situation varies from country to country.

  There are great differences in the national conditions of the various Asian countries, and they have a great variety of different political systems and of political parties in these systems. In China, as socialist democracy has become more deeply established, the system of multiparty cooperation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has developed rapidly. In addition to the governing Korean Workers’ Party , there are two other parties in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Korean Social Democratic Party and the Korean Chondoist Chongu Party. Both these parties have a history of over 50 years. Both Vietnam and Laos have one-party systems. The Communist Party of Vietnam and the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party are the sole parties in their countries. In Northeast Asia, Japan and ROK both have multiparty systems and Mongolia introduced the multiparty system in the late 1980s. In Southeast Asia, Brunei has only one party and all the other countries have various kinds of multiparty systems. In South Asia, Bhutan has a monarchical system without any political party and all the other countries have multiparty systems. Some countries have many parties; for example, more than 700 political parties and organizations participated in this year’s general election in India. In Central Asia and the Transcaucasian Region, Turkmenistan has only one party and all the other countries have different kinds of multiparty systems. The situation is more complex in West Asia. Turkey and Lebanon have Western-style multiparty systems. Syria has a multiparty system dominated by the governing party. Iran lifted its ban on political parties in 1998, and now there are numerous political parties active on the political stage there. Postwar Iraq is in a phase in which multiple parties are taking shape. None of the six countries in the Persian Gulf have political parties, but some countries, such as Kuwait, allow political groups to operate legally.

  2. Each kind of political party has clearly defined political characteristics, and their value systems and political objectives differ greatly.

  The historical backgrounds, ideologies and value systems of the various Asia’s political parties differ from each other, and the differences between their bases of support in society, how they calculate their interests and the internal and external policies they advocate are all quite significant. At present, the most dynamic kinds of political parties are the following. First, there are more than 20 parties that uphold socialism and communism, and they are the governing parties in China, Vietnam, DPRK and Laos. Other such parties that have some degree of influence in their country’s political life are the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of Nepal(Unified Marxist-Leninist), the Communist Party of Tadzhikistan, the Communist Party of Bangladesh, the Communist Party of Sri Lanka and the Japanese Communist Party. Second, there are more than 20 socialist democratic parties. They include the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, the Social Democratic Party of Japan, and Israel’s Labor Party. The value systems of these parties are close to those of European socialist parties, and some of them actively participate in the activities of the Socialist International. However, their theoretical thinking is strongly influenced by their ethnic identity and native land. Third, there are the national democratic parties, which are the most numerous. They include the Indian National Congress, the Pakistan People’s Party, Syria’s Baath Arab Socialist Party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the Motherland Party of Turkey and Thailand’s Thai Rak Thai Party. The internal and external policies of this kind of parties have several general characteristics: internally, they advocate developing the national economy to make the country stronger and the people more prosperous; externally, they oppose hegemonism and power politics and advocate a new political and economic order that is just and equitable. Fourth, there are the conservative parties, such as the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, Korea’s Grand National Party and the United National Party of Sri Lanka. The value systems and policy positions of these parties have a traditional liberalistic flavor with nationalistic influences. Fifth, there are the parties with a definite religious viewpoint. In some countries they have a broad social base. Some, such as India’s Bharatiya Janata Party, used to be in power, and others, such as Turkey’s Justice and Development Party, are still in power.

  In fact, the categories in which Asian political parties are classified are relative, for the political positions of many of them are not vastly different from each other. Many large and long standing parties have a mixture of ideological, social and political characteristics. Some parties are active only in certain regions and have distinctively regional characteristics, such as the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq and the All-India Dravidian Progressive Federation of India.

  3. All types of parties strive to adapt to changes and continuously make adjustments.

  Because of differences of organizational strength, social base and political positions, parties’ roles and influence in the political, economic and social activities of the country vary greatly. Some parties have been in power for a long time, have stable social bases and powerful organizational systems, and are able to maintain close contacts with and mobilize the people, so that they have a strong impact on the future and destiny of their countries. Governing parties in socialist countries such as Vietnam, DPRK and Laos are of this nature. The People’s Action Party of Singapore, the Baath Arab Socialist Party of Syria, the UMNO of Malaysia and the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan also have this kind of influence. Some parties, such as the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, the Bharatiya Janata Party of India and the Golkar Party of Indonesia, were in power for a long time in the past, but lost their positions as the governing party because of changing circumstances, internal changes in the party or other factors. On the other hand, some of them, such as the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and the Indian National Congress, have regained power by changing their ideologies, policy positions and campaigning strategies. Some Asian parties also play important roles as coalition partners or local governing parties: the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has long been in power in West Bengal in India, and the Telugu Desam Party was once the governing party of Andhra Pradesh, India. The Communist Party of Nepal(Unified Marxist-Leninist) has been in power twice. Still other parties play significant roles in their countries’ political life as constructive opposition parties.

  Currently, governing parties of all types, no matter whether they have been in power for a long time or are new parties that recently came to power, pay considerable attention to updating their ideologies and revising their domestic and foreign policies, take economic development and resolving problems related to people’s livelihoods as their primary tasks, and give top priority to expanding their social base and strengthening their governance. Parties of other types will also be carrying out internal adjustments for a long time to come.

  4. Transnational party-to-party contacts have become increasingly frequent, and peace, development and cooperation have become the main theme of party-to-party exchanges.

  A new development in the political spectrum of Asian political parties is that there has been an unprecedented wave of lively multilateral party-to-party contacts as parties in all countries, especially governing parties and large and long standing parties with abundant experience in political activities, have become more and more concerned about regional and international issues and more and more involved in exchanges and cooperation with foreign parties. Some newly established and less powerful parties have also increasingly engaged in international party-to-party contacts. Exchanging experience in running parties and states, promoting the development of state-to-state relations and exchanging views on international issues of common concern now constitute major aspects of Asian party-to-party contacts.

  It was against this background that the Lakas-CMD Party of the Philippines (formerly Lakas-NUCD-CMDP) and the Thai Rak Thai Party of Thailand sponsored and hosted the first and second International Conference of Asian Political Parties. The momentum of international party-to-party contacts in Asia is increasing, and richer and more varied changes will occur in the political spectrum of Asian political parties. 

  (People’s Daily)